Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were the victims of an armed robbery on another Caribbean island with direct flights from DC as is the case with T&C, which we've also visited. I did some research when we returned and learned that the islands are awash with illegal guns from the US and that there are gang and drug trafficking problems across the region. Many of the stories of crimes affecting tourists never make the international news, unless the victim dies or goes missing. I found a number of alarming incidents of violence toward tourists on the island where we were victimized (and shot, BTW) by digging through old online newspapers from the island--there was nothing in international news sources.

If you go to the Caribbean, my advice is to stay on site in a resort and forego "exploring" the island by car or walking to/fro dining and other destinations. Whereas in the past tourists who were robbed were usually shown a knife, now the perps are more likely to have a gun--and to use it if they feel the slightest bit threatened.

or pick an island that is safer. Also, if you want to explore outside the resorts, do with a local tour guide Think Antigua (felt very safe there). But the safest of all is Aruba. Stay in the tourist areas and you are good

That's just it, PP. How can a potential visitor tell that a specific island is "safe"? "Felt very safe" is not an objective measure. I'm the PP and the island I referenced was on a list of "X safest islands in the Caribbean"--that's how I first heard about it. We had been there twice before the armed robbery and shooting incident and it had "felt safe" to us as well. Tourists don't know about the actual crime situation on any of the Caribbean islands--the tendency of local authorities is to play down any negative situations that may scare off tourists. I can assure you that if you do some research, you will find that illegal guns, gang activity, and drug trafficking have infiltrated every corner of the Caribbean.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were the victims of an armed robbery on another Caribbean island with direct flights from DC as is the case with T&C, which we've also visited. I did some research when we returned and learned that the islands are awash with illegal guns from the US and that there are gang and drug trafficking problems across the region. Many of the stories of crimes affecting tourists never make the international news, unless the victim dies or goes missing. I found a number of alarming incidents of violence toward tourists on the island where we were victimized (and shot, BTW) by digging through old online newspapers from the island--there was nothing in international news sources.

If you go to the Caribbean, my advice is to stay on site in a resort and forego "exploring" the island by car or walking to/fro dining and other destinations. Whereas in the past tourists who were robbed were usually shown a knife, now the perps are more likely to have a gun--and to use it if they feel the slightest bit threatened.

or pick an island that is safer. Also, if you want to explore outside the resorts, do with a local tour guide Think Antigua (felt very safe there). But the safest of all is Aruba. Stay in the tourist areas and you are good

Anonymous wrote:A classroom of 6 year olds was gunned down in a wealthy white suburb here in the good old US of A.

So. It's worse here is what I'm saying.